A well-drawn coming-of-age tale about the loves and losses of a young boy.
Seim’s debut middle-grade tale of an orphan’s journey in the early 1900s.
In this charming historical novel, Charley, 12 years old, is a street-smart city boy, accustomed to stealing food when necessary and staying out of trouble whenever possible. Roaming the streets of Boston after his mother dies, Charley learns that his father has left him and his siblings to go find work. His older brother George insists that Charley accompany his younger siblings to the New England Home for Little Wanderers, a place that will take care of them until they are placed with a family while George, who’s 14, joins his friends near his job at the wharf. Although Charley and his siblings hope to find a family for the three of them, his younger sister and brother are adopted into two separate families, leaving Charley alone in the orphanage. Before long, the boy’s beautiful voice brings him to the next chapter in his life; while leading a children’s choir on a trip to Maine, Charley sings his way into the hearts of the Worthingtons. He must learn to adjust to life on a farm, where his street savvy is no longer an asset, and new challenges confront him at every turn. His foster parents, though strict, are kind to Charley and endeavor to make him comfortable in his new home. In time, however, a family tragedy compels Charley to run back to Boston and see if he can survive on his own. But a sudden turn of events halts his plans and gives him a chance to prove himself a hero. This gently told story of abandonment and survival is a captivating read, drawing on historical facts to give texture to the tale. Charley’s rambunctious spirit and tenacity pave the way for endless adventures and lessons learned. Young readers, even struggling ones, will find this novel easy to read and an enjoyable way to learn about a different time, and Charley’s emotional roller coaster as he is passed from place to place is affecting.
A well-drawn coming-of-age tale about the loves and losses of a young boy.Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2013
ISBN: 978-1937721107
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Peter E. Randall Publisher
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
